Pretty camera, rubbish photos

Hi. I finally tried out my Five Year USSRphoto camera. I ran a whole roll of Kodak BW400CN film through it in a single day. The images are terrible. There is something seriously wrong with the focusing. Pictures where I have focused close up have the actual point of focus several feet away. Pictures at or close to infinity have almost nothing (or absolutely nothing!) in focus. Below are four images from the roll.

I guess the first thing to do is try another roll with a different lens? Any other suggestions?

Thanks, Kris.

It seems like your rangefinder is not calibrated

I guessed as much. Is this an easy job, or something I am going to have to send it off to have done?

Thanks, Kris.

See here:
http://jay.fedka.com/index_files/Page422.htm

Cheers,
Vlad

Thanks Vlad.

Hello,

Iґve got a similar problem with a FED 1.
All pictures taken with the proper fed lens are out of focus. The photos taken with a 2,8/5 cm Industar 26 all pretty sharp.
It might not be a maladjusted rangefinder after all.
good luck
Henk


HM

If it's not the Rangefinder then probably the lens is not calibrated to the camera (or vice versa).
http://jay.fedka.com/index_files/Page433.htm

But this should only be the case with prewar FEDs that don't have standard 28,8 mm register.
I had this issue with my FED-S and the FED 28mm f/4.5 lens which would not focus at infinity. After having Camera and all lenses calibrated by Oleg it works perfectly now.

Hope it's just your rangefinder, that's quite easy to adjust.

Good Luck,
Christian

I'll try a few shots with my Industar-26m and then load the film into something else. With a bit of luck it is just the rangefinder.

Bit peeved that the anniversary camera should look so pretty but not be actually functional as a camera. Has anyone else tried theirs yet?

Best wishes, K.

Some time, I face the same problem. I try to click but the photo turns out to be blurred. It's my mistake or the camera's?? How can I figure out that? ( No, I don't make movements while clicking)

I would at least try adjusting the rangefinder first by using the link above to see if it's the issue if your camera is FED or Zorki. It's the most common problem usually.